Senior Cost Accountant

Established in 1927, Sherman + Reilly is North America's leading manufacturer of transmission and distribution line-stringing equipment for the electric utility industry. From our Chattanooga headquarters, we design and build pullers, bullwheel tensioners, puller-tensioners, pilot line winders, underground pullers, reel trailers, reel stands, and stringing blocks, engineered for safety and built to last. As part of Quanta Services, we pair a nearly century-old brand with the scale and career opportunity of a large parent organization.

About the role

We are seeking an experienced Senior Cost Accountant to own the cost accounting function end-to-end in a make-to-order and make-to-stock manufacturing environment. As the primary owner of standard costing, inventory valuation, and manufacturing variance analysis, you will provide the operations and leadership teams with the cost insight they need to price competitively and improve margins. This is a hands-on role for someone who is equally comfortable on the shop floor understanding how a unit is built and in the ERP system ensuring the numbers reflect reality.

Responsibilities

• Own and maintain standard costs, including material, labor, and overhead rates; lead the annual standard cost roll and periodic cost updates.
• Maintain the integrity of bills of material (BOMs) and routings in partnership with Engineering and Operations; investigate and resolve cost discrepancies.
• Own month-end close activities for inventory and cost of goods sold, including journal entries, reconciliations, and account analysis.
• Analyze and report on manufacturing variances (purchase price, material usage, labor efficiency, and overhead absorption); identify root causes and recommend corrective actions.
• Value and reconcile raw material, work-in-process, and finished goods inventory; ensure proper accounting treatment and reserve analysis for excess and obsolete (E&O) inventory.
• Support and audit physical inventories and cycle count programs; investigate variances and help strengthen inventory controls.
• Prepare product-line and job-level margin analysis, including gross margin bridge and trend analysis, to support pricing, quoting, and profitability decisions.
• Model cost scenarios for engineering changes and sourcing or supplier shifts; quantify the financial and margin impact to support commercial and procurement decisions.
• Partner with Operations to identify cost-reduction opportunities and quantify the financial impact of process improvements and engineering changes.
• Support budgeting and forecasting for cost of goods sold, inventory, and gross margin, and prepare capital expenditure analysis for the manufacturing operation.
• Serve as the finance point of contact for Operations, Supply Chain, and Sourcing on cost-related matters.
• Provide cost data and support for internal and external audits.
• Develop and maintain reporting and dashboards that give leadership timely visibility into cost and margin performance.